


Tanoshii Kurisumasu Wo

by JjdoggieS



Series: All Is Calm, All Is Bright [20]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: (I'm sorry anyone that knows about subway systems), (Or lives in new york), (They have a very heavy chuck and blair dynamic in this), (and i love it), (i was doing lots of poorly done research), (imo of course), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Buisnessman Five Hargreeves, Christmas, Christmas Eve, College Student Vanya Hargreeves, F/M, Ficmas, Ficmas 2020, Harcest Ficmas, Harcest Ficmas 2020, Subways, Waitress Vanya Hargreeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28293570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JjdoggieS/pseuds/JjdoggieS
Summary: Five Hargreeves was an established man of math & science, logic & facts. Coincidences and fate weren't things that Five considered to be real, muchless important or applicable to him. Vanya Ivanova was a part time waitress at her local doughnut shop to help pay her way through college. Everyday she hoped for and dreamed about the day her life would change. And a chance encounter on a broken down subway on Christmas Eve would change everything, and definitely for the better.Harcest Ficmas: Day 20 - Hope
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Series: All Is Calm, All Is Bright [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2034832
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16
Collections: Harcest Ficmas 2020





	Tanoshii Kurisumasu Wo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lofticries](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lofticries/gifts).



It was December 24th, 5 ‘til 7 o’clock, Christmas Eve. And while most people were already home with their families, celebrating the capitalist-Christianity hybrid holiday together, Fiyero Hargreeves, better known as Five, eldest son of Reginald Hargreeves and in line to take over The Umbrella Corporation, as well as an early projection for Forbes’ Top 25 Under 25 and was barely 20, was stuck riding the subway back to his penthouse in Tribeca like a commoner.

While  _ most _ companies wouldn’t hold a meeting on Christmas Eve, Five’s father didn’t care about anyone besides himself, his money, and the company’s reputation, hence the late meeting on Christmas Eve with his two sons, Five and Luther, executive manager, and the entire board. It wasn’t like anyone could exactly say no to Reginald Hargreeves,  _ especially  _ if they wanted to keep their job. And normally, after one of The Umbrella Corporation’s later meetings, Five’s personal driver would take him from The Umbrella Corporation in the Upper East Side back to his penthouse in Tribeca; but because it was Christmas Eve, his driver Harold Jenkins (A bottomfeeder if Five even saw one) was on holiday.

Five Hargreeves, was a man of logic and facts, math and science, but, he was also a quite privilege New Yorker, a person in general, in that he’d never had to even  _ look _ at a subway map prior to this evening. When he’d  _ walked  _ into the subway station, Five watched what the saner of the people around him did, and followed suit, getting a ticket for the B line since according to the hardly readable map, it would take him near Tribeca. As he purchased his ticket, the kiosk he'd been using told him the subway wouldn’t arrive for another fifteen minutes, so as he waited Five surveyed the odd nightlife that a subway station on Christmas Eve could offer. And what, or better yet who, that had caught his attention was a brunette woman, wearing an oversized winter jacket, nearly covering the pale blue of what  _ may _ have been some kind of uniform but exposing her legs to her black sneakers with her hair pulled back in a low ponytail. 

To be clear, what had caught Five’s attention was  _ not _ her exposed skin or the seemingly short skirt. He’s not  _ that _ shallow thank you very much. What  _ had _ gotten his attention was, well, honestly, Five wasn’t sure what it had been that drew him to her. But it was an undeniable, newfound, need for Five to be near her. God, he sounds like such a creep.   


* * *

Vanya Ivanova had just gotten off a shift at the doughnut shop she worked at part time, it was only to help her pay for college. And if it weren’t for the flexible hours, as well as the shop’s owner being an old friend of her mother’s, Vanya would  _ never _ wear a uniform that’s skirt barely reached past her butt. And rather than spend two hours worth of her paycheck getting a cab to and from Griddy’s every shift, Vanya used the MetroCard she’d gotten for college from her parents to get a ticket for the B line, which always went up to Hamilton Heights, where she lived, before heading down to the opposite end of Manhattan near Tribeca. 

While she was standing by the track, away from the creepier, older men that often eyed any young women that walked or stood near them, Vanya could  _ feel _ a pair of eyes on her. They felt different than the normal feeling of being watched while standing alone, late at night, in a fairly empty public transportation station. As Vanya turned to try and find the source of this  _ new _ feeling of being watched, she was quite surprised to see Five Hargreeves of all people watching, and approaching, her.

“Hello,” Was the first thing Five said, sounding like the businessman he looked like and was known to be, “I’m not sure if you know who I am,” God he was one of  _ those _ rich people, “but I’m-”   
  
“Five Hargreeves?” Vanya finished, internally relishing in the shocked expression that appeared on Five’s face at someone interrupting him before it melted into a smirk.

Five regained his composure as he asked, “So, you’ve heard of me?” his smirk still prominent on his face.

Vanya gave him a smirk of her own as she told him, “I’m pretty sure at least half of New York has heard of you.”

“You think it’s just New York?” Five asked, his smirk reminding Vanya of all the shitty guys who always thought they were hot-shit playboys in high school, and college, and it was frankly pissing her off.

“Look, let’s just cut to the chase,” Vanya said, “just tell me what you want from me and we can both be on our way.”

Again, a look of shock crossed Five’s face, although this time, rather than quickly benign replaced by a smirk, a genuinely confused look took over his face. He quirked his eyebrow up as he asked, “What? What are you talking about? I don’t, I don’t want anything from you.”

That made no sense, why the hell would someone as important and influential as Five ever talk to someone like her, unless he wanted something from her? And Vanya told him as much, “If you don’t want anything from me, then why waste your very important and valuable time talking to me?”

* * *

Five, while initially confused  _ and _ offended as to why this woman, whose name he still didn’t know, could also understand how she would be confused about this whole thing. Which honestly, he still didn’t quite understand why it was happening. Or why he was drawn to her. Fate after all was a nonexistent, ill-fitting rationalization that people used to explain away statistical happenings that they couldn’t be bothered having to explain. And yet, there was no rational explanation that five could think of, yet, to reason with a to why he was drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

And while Five had no real answer to her question, he also knew that  _ not _ answering her question would likely hurt his reputation in some way (and by the transitive property, The Umbrella Corporation’s reputation, which would have his father up his ass about it for weeks on end) and wouldn’t help to further any kind of interaction between them. Without much thought behind his words, which was an uncommon occurrence for him to do, Five questioned, “Can't I just talk to you without needing some kind of ulterior motive?”

When she rolled her eyes and scoffed at his response, it clearly wasn’t the right one. Why was Five trying so hard to convince this  _ one _ person that he wasn’t the chauvinistic, uncaring asshole that nearly everyone else thought (and knew, let’s be honest) he was? And before he could think of another thing to say, hoping to rectify the quickly worsening interaction between them, she said, “I’ve just met a few people like you before, and it’s never turned out well.”

“Names.” Five demanded, surprising himself and Her.

“What?” She asked, which was reasonable since this random asshole showed up and was now demanding to know all the  _ other  _ fucking assholes that she’s had to deal with in her life within the first ten minutes of meeting each other. 

“Um, forget I said anything. Sorry.” Five said, barely containing a wince, and instead pushing forward to ask what he’d been wanting to ask since he’d realized that they’d been talking for an entire ten minutes without him knowing who she was, “What’s your name?”

She gave him an annoyed look, raising an eyebrow at him, and for a moment, Five honestly thought she was going to ignore his question. But to his pleasurable surprise, she told him, “Vanya.”

“Vanya.” Five repeated, getting a feel for her name on his lips. He hadn’t been this infatuation with anyone, let alone a woman since-. It was better not to think of  _ that _ time of his life. He was a changed man now. “Well, Miss. Vanya, do you have a last name?”

“I do.” Vanya answered him with a laugh and a playful smile gracing her lips, “But I don’t give out that kind of information to strangers.”

And before Five could be offended for a third time in roughly fifteen minutes, a monotone voice carried through the intercom of the station, announcing the arrival of the B train, and therefore ending their conversation as the train came screeching into the station. Five parted ways with Vanya, telling her that he needed to catch his ride, sounding as if he was getting into a car and not a subway train.

Five meandered and forced his way through the outpour of people  _ leaving  _ the subway cars, as well as pushing himself ahead of the few people that were also boarding the train. He’d gotten onto a train car that had only one other person still on the car, their hood pulled over their face, most people that moved to get on after he had were either scared off by his mere presence or the glare he sent them when they tried to step onto the car. The only other person on the train car was on the opposite end from him, so Five simply took a seat next to the door he’d come in through, and waited for the train’s doors to close.

Once the doors  _ did _ close a few minutes after Five had boarded the subway, and the train pulled away from the station with a lurch, nearly throwing Five from his seat. As the subway train trudged along, only stopping at one more station before heading into a long stretch of no stops before reaching Tribeca, at least that’s what Five thought the person on the intercoms of the train said. But, it seemed that the train, not  _ fate _ or the universe, had different plans, seeing as within twelve minutes of pulling away from the second subway station, the train stopped in an even harder lurch than it did pulling away from the station. The doors didn’t open, there was no station outside the windows, and the lights flickered for a moment. Clearly, something was wrong with the subway train.

This time, when the person’s voice came over the intercom, it was as clear as a bell, announcing that the subway train was broken down, and they were going to be stuck for an indefinite amount of time. Fucking hell, could this day get any worse.

“I hope you didn’t have any important holiday plans tonight Mr. Hargreeves,” The other person on the train said, although their voice seemed to be  _ oddly _ familiar, “as it seems like we’re going to be stuck here a while.” And when they looked over at him, he realized why they sounded so familiar.

“Vanya?”

* * *

Vanya had never guessed that making The Five Hargreeves be as confused as many times as she had in the past hour would be amusing. And yet, she didn’t bother holding back on the devilish smirk gracing her lips. She asked, “Yes?” in response to Five’s question, internally reveling in the glare that Five managed to level her despite the obvious shock he was still in.

“What, what are you doing here?” Five asked, seeming genuinely surprised that Vanya was on the same train as him.

“Going home.” Vanya said slowly, as if she was talking to a confused child and not a confused adult man, “It’s something that most adults do once they’re finished with work for the day.”

“I know that!” Five hissed, now acting a bit like a child, “I mean, why didn’t you say anything for nearly fifteen minutes?” Vanya merely shrugged back, wordlessly implicating that she seemingly wasn’t going to  _ actually _ answer his question.

But just as Five opened his mouth to snip back some retort, Vanya asked, “Didn’t you say you lived in Tribeca?”

Five, visually still confused, answered, “Yeah, why?”

“This subway is going in literally the opposite direction from Tribeca.” Vanya told him, “The B train goes up to Harlem  _ then _ down to Tribeca you idiot.”

“Well,” Five sputtered, “how the hell am I supposed to know that?”

“Read a map!” Vanya hissed, “Talk to someone! Don’t be a fucking asshole!”

“What the hell’s your problem?” Five snapped, a heavy glare set upon his features.

Vanya, who’d been remaining seated until now, pushed herself out of her seat, whirling around to face Five as she spat at him, “Pompous assholes like you, think you’re so much better, and smarter, than the rest of us just because you were born with a giant fucking silver spoon in your goddamn mouths. Using your fucking ‘legacy’ status to get into ivy league schools and pay your way through fast-tracked degrees while the rest of us have to work our goddamn asses off to get a twentieth of what you’re gifted with at birth.”

“Anything else?” Five asked, clearly trying to school whatever volatile emotion he  _ was _ feeling into a look of impassiveness, “Anything else you want to get off your chest  _ Vanya _ that you think hasn’t been screamed at me, or my brother, a million times over?”

It wasn’t until Vanya fully processed what she’d spat at Five, for truly no reason, as well as his response, before a tidal wave of embarrassment and guilt washed over her, threatening to drag her under. Vanya murmured a short apology to Five, completely and utterly averting her eyes from anywhere within his vicinity; completely and utterly ashamed at her total loss of composure as well as for needlessly snapping at him.

For the rest of the near twenty minutes it took for whatever had been causing them to be stuck to be fixed, as well as the fifteen more minutes after that until the B train pulled into Vanya’s stop was spent in completely and utter, tense silence, only Five and Vanya’s breathing filling the cabin. Neither attempting a conversation.

* * *

Before Vanya left the subway car, Five slipped one of the business cards with his personal cell phone number on it into the pocket of her coat in a hardly convincing or plausible for occurring quick hug, fairly certain she knew what he was doing, as all subtly around her seemed to completely disappear. 

“It’s Ivanova by the way.” Vanya said, just standing beyond the red line on the station’s platform.

“What is?” Five asked.

Vanya gave him a small smirk and said, “My last name.” just before the doors closed. Five watched in an odd sense of sadness as Vanya Ivanova walked off, already missing her annoying, snippy, intellectually stimulating banter; especially having to deal with mind numbingly stupid business people for over four hours like he had today.

Hook, line, and sinker.

God he was fucked.

Also, how the fuck was he supposed to get home?

**Author's Note:**

> Update survey if you're interested -> https://forms.gle/kj4UBqMeUThavmnx6


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